Still pulling right after alignment

Took the truck in for an alignment at the most recommended shop in town (it’s a Ford fleet center), truck is still pulling to the right afterwards. When the steering wheel is perfectly level, truck is veering off to the right. It’s not a huge deal, but it becomes a pain on long highway trips having to put constant left pressure on the wheel to keep straight.

How do these specs look? Even the last time I took it in for an alignment and the steer ahead was perfect 0.00 it did the same thing. Is this just as good as you can expect with these trucks?

Second photo is how the wheel looks when driving perfectly straight.

TRD OR suspension with 275/70R17 (E load) Cooper ST Maxx

 

I had the same problem and was running the ST Maxx. Replaced the tires and problem was fixed.

 

What did you switch to?

Such a pain in the ass dropping over a grand on a set of tires not knowing if they’re going to pull or not.

 

Specs look good. Two things that also effect what your experiencing is tires and play in steering components. If it was a good shop I assume they should have checked for excessive play (but you can do that yourself easily). Tires, you can try swapping wheels around see if it makes a difference, Ie left to right and front to back, you can also try changing pressure but since E rated are just so way overboard for Tacoma’s weight might not make much difference.

 

i don't agree that the specs look good. they're not awful, but not good.

i doubt it's your ST Maxx tires. there are some reports of them pulling right but it's not a consistent problem. your alignment is not dialed in. if that shop was on it they wouldn't give you back a finished truck with the steering wheel off like that either. ST Maxx tires are pretty grippy and the small amount of toe variation between the front left and right (0.02 toe-in more on the left) will be enough to pull you... after all the left front is pointing inward more than the right. that's just a basic start. i would find another shop. someone with truck experience, Toyota trucks, preferably, but i tend to avoid dealers. independent techs are often the way to go.

 

That alignment sucks.
The lack of cross castor is creating the pull to the right. Typically Tacoma’s like the left side to have .5 less castor to compensate for road crown.

 

That tiny amount of toe is well within the margin of error for setup and equipment tolerance. Taking that truck off the rack and then putting it back on the same rack would almost certainly result in tiny variations in all of those numbers. 0.02° is like .005" at the wheel OD. Also, the steering wheel is aligned with the wheels but requires that steer left input when driving to maintain driving straight is what I understood.

Road crown on the interstate? I thought cross caster was a thing of the past

 

Same issue. Bought the truck with ST Maxx tires on it. It pulled right, figured it just needed an alignment. Two different shops and alignments later, still pulls right. I did a search and found it's pretty common with these tires.

 

Cooper ST Maxx are very well documented having this issue! Only option is to ride them until worn and replace with another brand or sell them to a unsuspecting buyer(Pease don't do!)
Or swap them now and take the loss! I chose to ride them out its a minor inconvenience but i get the issue driving down the highway with left pressure on the wheel! They are a great looking tire and handle all conditions great but yeah they do pull!

 

Yep, could be tire issue..

 

That happens sometimes after a alignment, possibly steering wheel was not centered when the alignment was performed, I'd bring it back. The truck is not pulling, the wheel is off center, there is a difference! Don,t tell them it's pulling, because it's not. Trust me, I have done many alignments, been there done that!!

 

Way to read the first post.

 

Imo. No need to worry about cross caster. Some guys still do it. But nowadays since a lot of roads are crowned down the center it’s a mute point , because depending which lane you’re in the crown switches from side to side. I have mine exact on both sides 4* sometimes it has a bit of drift sometimes not depends on the road and how it was built.

 

You never had to redo an alignment when you drove the vehicle and the wheel was off?!

 

I also had this problem and was unable to resolve the issue after 3 alignments from different shops.

I replaced my tires (Cooper ST Maxx) with K02’s and then the truck drove straight as an arrow.

 

nope cross castor is still widely used to compensate for pulling. I would recommend getting the alignment done with half a degree less on the drivers side and it will most likely drive perfect.

 

Alignments are a pain OP. YOU will get it. Good luck

 

Agreed!!! My st maxxs pull like a bitch...

 

Simple things first. Swap front tires / wheels with each other.

 

Same problem here. When I bought it preowned (private seller) I already knew from the test drive that it pulled to the right and had a crooked steering wheel. It was already at the dealer getting a new shock put on it from leaking and asked if they could go ahead and do alignment. So I picked it up and they said we got the steering wheel straight and the alignment was spot on after their adjustments. Gave me the keys I pulled out of the dealership and to the right she went. So I’ve grown accustomed to this and read a lot about others having this problem. I’ll wear down the tires and thrown on a new set and see what happens.